Class #25: Organ Transplantation
Discussion Questions for November 23, 2009
Related Readings: Finkel, Reynolds,Skloot.
These writing assignments are meant to help you think about the readings and to prepare you for class discussions. For that reason, when you write a response it is important that you give your opinions and that you relate your thoughts to the reading. Remember that these are exam questions and that they are graded as such. You ought to write them as though you are writing questions on a midterm or a final exam.
Respond to one of the following questions by writing a response on the class Discussion Board on Blackboard at least one hour before class on the date the question is listed. Put your name in the text of the question and give the question number as listed below. Without these I can't tell who wrote the question or what you are responding to. You then have until Midnight on the following Sunday of that week to revise your response if you wish to do so and to submit it for grading. To submit your responses, send them via email to milofsky@bucknell.edu.
Your final version of this question is due by midnight, Sunday, November 29.
25-1. Should the sale of organs for transplantation be allowed?
The Gift of Life Foundation encourages family to donate the organs of their brain-dead members for transplantation. Some of our class members saw how meaningful it is for people to receive these organs and for families to give them. Unfortunately, Americans do not donate organs at a rate high enough to meet the demand. In the article by Finkel, we hear arguments that there should be a market for buying and selling organs, and we hear about instances where this works and does not work. What are the argments for and against the sale of organs?
25-2. Who owns your organs?
The point of this question is to explore whether the community owns them, and thus has the right to decide what you can or cannot do with them, or whether you own them and decide to do with them what you want. Who should own your organs? Should citizens suffering from great economic need be allowed to profit from the sale of their organs?
25-3. When organ transplantation first began, allocation decisions were made by community boards that gave them out based on an assessment of the social worth of individuals. The boards were composed of clergy, citizens, physicians, and others who were committed to being fair and impartial in their decisions. Although we gave up on these boards as the medical community judged them to be impractical we might want to reconsider. Given the extreme shortage of quality organs, should we try to make the best organs available to people who are most responsible and who are likely to produce the most social benefits?